


Faust And The One Eyed Rabbit

by Aeriel



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-02
Updated: 2014-05-02
Packaged: 2018-01-21 16:47:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1557281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeriel/pseuds/Aeriel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lizzie spends some quality time with Ciel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Faust And The One Eyed Rabbit

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Qem](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Qem/gifts).



Lizzie clapped her hands with glee. "Oh, Ciel, this is going to be so much fun! I can't wait to see all the cute things you have at the warehouse!"  
  
Ciel looked slightly less disgruntled than usual. "Yes, well, our sales among young women have been less than satisfactory recently. I hoped you might have some insights."  
  
Sebastian unlocked the door with a small flourish, and held it open. Still a little giddy, Lizzie followed Ciel into the building.  
  
It could use some redecorating, she decided almost immediately. The walls and ceilings were drab. Orange paint, maybe? Some garlands hanging from the ceiling, certainly. _Obviously_ something had to be done about those shuttered, dusty windows.  
  
But she wasn't here to volunteer to pay for a thorough cleaning of the premises, much as she itched to. Her eyes landed on a pile of Bitter Rabbits, some of whom were missing eyes or ears. "Oh!"  
  
Ciel frowned. "Those are rejects- you needn't bother with them."  
  
"But some of them are _cute_ ," she protested, picking up a rabbit slightly bigger than her hand with one button black eye. "You could put a little eye patch on him, like yours!"  
  
Sebastian coughed.  
  
"I'll consider it," her fiancé replied, stiffly.  
  
Oblivious, Lizzie dropped the stuffed animal on a shelf next to some fine china dolls, humming to herself. "These are nice!" she exclaimed, playing with the red ringlets on one of the dolls. "But do their expressions have to be so serious? Some of them should be smiling!"  
  
"Sebastian, are you taking notes?"  
  
"Yes, my lord."  
  
Lizzie examined the spring green dress with pink ruffles on a doll with brown plaits. "Can I take this one home, Ciel? I want to order a dress just like hers!"  
  
"I suppose so…"  
  
She squealed and threw her arms around him. "Thank you!"  
  
"Sebastian, remind me to increase the pay of whichever gentleman designed these doll dresses," Ciel said, his voice muffled by Lizzie's satin covered shoulder.  
  
"I have made a note of it."  
  
Pulling away after a moment, Lizzie wandered over to some stuffed animals that were taller than she was. Holding up a finger, she narrowed her eyes at the chubby unicorn that represented the products for girls. "This one…"  
  
"I know, I know," Ciel said hastily. "But it's a little late to redesign it-- for better or worse, it's associated with the brand now."  
  
Lizzie scowled, but moved on. She scrutinized a towering giraffe with stubby legs and a grinning walrus. She hugged the walrus, and made a satisfied little noise.  
  
She was also pleased with some pink rocking horses, though privately disappointed that she was too big to ride them. "More curls in their manes," she declared. "Also, some of them should sparkle."  
  
In this way they went through all the products intended for girls, and a few from the general and rainwear lines as well ("These boots need little hearts on them!") with Sebastian taking notes, lips twitching in a half smile.  
  
"Is it time to leave already?" Lizzie pouted.  
  
"I'm afraid so. But you've been extremely helpful, Lizzie, thank you."  
  
She beamed. "It was my pleasure!"  
  
Sebastian cleared his throat discreetly.  
  
Ciel gave his butler a dark look. "And, as I was going to say, as a gesture of my gratitude, please allow me to accompany you to the opera tomorrow night."  
  
Lizzie let out a cry of delight. "Oh, Ciel, I'd love to! I'll have to ask Mother and Father, of course, but I'm sure they'll agree!" Without preamble, she hugged him fiercely. "Will you wear the new clothes I sent you?"  
  
Her fiancé made a strangled noise, though whether that was due to the question or the tightness of her embrace was subject for debate.  
  
"I shall set them out myself, my lady," said Sebastian.  
  
Ciel made a sound somewhere between a snarl and a squeak in response.  
  
~*~  
  
"They're pink, Sebastian," Ciel said flatly.  
  
"I believe they were described as 'cherry blossom'."  
  
"They're _pink_ ," Ciel repeated, staring at the outfit laid out on his bed with disbelief.  
  
The coat, waistcoat and trousers were indeed a pale shade of rose, trimmed with white lace, the cravat white with red stripes, the accompanying garters the same shade. Elizabeth had also thoughtfully included white shoes, gloves with pink buttons, and a pink hat with white trim.  
  
"Really, by the Lady Elizabeth's standards, they are quite restrained," Sebastian remarked.  
  
Ciel rounded on Sebastian. "Do you _like_ them?"  
  
"I think that some additional color in your wardrobe would do no harm," Sebastian said diplomatically.  
  
Ciel scowled at this betrayal. "There's nothing wrong with my wardrobe. And even if there was, just yesterday she was in raptures over green! I would have borne green gladly! But this pink is intolerable!"  
  
"She will be greatly disappointed if you wear something else," Sebastian pointed out. "Indulging her whim is harmless."  
  
He opened his mouth to retort that it was harming _him_ , but he knew Sebastian would only say that a blow to Ciel's pride was hardly a mortal one. Which, to his disgust, was the truth.  
  
Besides, if he didn't wear it, Lizzie might cry, and he didn't want that.  
  
"Fine," he bit out. "But just this once and never again."  
  
"Ciel!" Prince Soma burst through the doors just as Sebastian was finishing tying the white and red cravat. "There's a carriage at the door and- oh! Where did you get those clothes?"  
  
"I don't want to talk about it," Ciel growled.  
  
"That color is splendid! Agni! Agni, I want some clothes made at once just like Ciel's."  
  
"You can use the same fabric if you wish-- feel free to tear this apart and make a jumper out of it tomorrow."  
  
"Oh, I couldn't do that," Soma said, missing Ciel's venom entirely. "It suits you so well! You should wear colorful clothes more often."  
  
Ciel glared at Sebastian.  
  
"My lord, we should not keep the Lady Elizabeth waiting," Sebastian said mildly.  
  
"The who?" Soma wanted to know.  
  
Ciel sighed. He knew that Prince Soma and Lizzie had both been at the Interhouse Cricket Tournament, but evidently Soma had forgotten encountering her. "My fiancé. We're going to the opera."  
  
"I've never been to the opera!" exclaimed Soma. "Is it any good? I'll go with you!"  
  
" _We're_ going to the opera," Ciel corrected him. "If you wish to attend, I can obtain tickets for you another night." He didn't even want to imagine the scene Soma would cause at the Royal Opera House.  
  
Soma deflated a bit. "Oh, I see. Well, you can at least let me see this fiancé of yours!" And he was running out of the room before Ciel could stop him.  
  
~*~  
  
Lizzie clambered out of the carriage almost immediately. She didn't visit Ciel at his London residence often, and she was disappointed to see that it looked more or less the same as it had the last time she had been there. Just as she was considering going looking for him, an Indian man wearing English clothes raced down the stairs.  
  
"Are you Ciel's fiancé?" he demanded.  
  
Lizzie nodded, trying to place where she'd seen him before. "Oh! You're that Prince from Weston College!"  
  
He beamed. "I'm Ciel's best friend, Soma! But I don't go to that silly school anymore."  
  
She was too busy trying to process the first revelation to pay much attention to the second. "His best friend? But he's never mentioned you."  
  
Soma's face crumpled for a moment before lighting up again. "Ah, I see! He's been keeping us apart, because he's afraid I might steal you away once I saw how pretty you were!"  
  
Lizzie blushed lightly at the compliment, though she wasn't entirely sure she believed Soma's theory.  
  
Just then, Ciel appeared at the top of the stairs, and Elizabeth clapped her hands madly and squealed, because he was wearing the clothes she had sent him and he looked so cute, she could barely stand it.  
  
"Ah, clever Ciel! I promise I won't seduce your fiancé, so you needn't worry!" exclaimed Soma.  
  
Ciel gaped at Soma as if he'd grown antlers. "Thank you?" he ventured.  
  
"But you never mentioned what you were doing here!" Lizzie realized, turning to the Indian prince.  
  
"Oh, I look after the place with Agni."  
  
"Who's Agni?"  
  
"My _khansama_."  
  
Lizzie blinked, still not understanding, but before she could ask another question, Ciel, having descended the stairs, took her arm and said, "You look lovely, Lizzie."  
  
She blushed again. "I had this made at the same time as your clothes, so we would match."  
  
"Are you sure I can't come to the opera?" Soma interrupted. "I may not have matching clothes, but Agni can certainly throw something together-"  
  
"I'm quite sure," Ciel said dryly. "Sebastian, have you brought the tickets?"  
  
"In my waistcoat pocket, sir."  
  
Lizzie could have sworn Sebastian had not been standing with them a minute previously, but accustomed as she was to such minor oddities where the butler was concerned, she ignored it.  
  
"Then let's be off."  
  
Soma followed them outside, talking animatedly about all he knew about opera (which appeared to be strangely merged with kabuki theater) while another Indian man whom Lizzie assumed must be Agni carefully draped a sweater over his shoulders.  
  
Sebastian helped her into the carriage first, then Ciel, then took a seat himself as one of Ciel's other servants closed the door. Lizzie was a little disappointed, though she knew part of why her parents had agreed to the outing was because Sebastian was to serve as chaperone.  
  
"You never told me which opera we're going to be seeing," she chirped after the carriage had begun to move, watching Prince Soma's wildly waving figure as it grew smaller in the distance. "Is it a comedy?"  
  
Edward had taken Lizzie to the theater once. It had been a silly show, about pirates, and they had both laughed so hard they had trouble breathing.  
  
"No, it isn't."  
  
"Oh, a tragedy then." Lizzie tried to conceal her apprehension. She hated unhappy endings. Real life had too many of them as it was.  
  
"Not exactly."  
  
She turned to look at him then, to see if he was teasing her. He smiled, faintly. "It isn't a comedy, but it doesn't end entirely unhappily."  
  
Lizzie brightened. "Is it in French?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
She screwed up her face, trying to remember French operas with happy endings. "I give up, tell me what it's called, Ciel!"  
  
"Faust." When she didn't register recognition, he continued. "It's about a scholar who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for the restoration of his youth."  
  
"How frightful!" Lizzie cried. "And what a silly bargain! I wouldn't sell my soul for something like that."  
  
"I'd imagine your price would be somewhat steeper," Sebastian remarked.  
  
Ciel gave Sebastian a sharp look.  
  
Lizzie frowned, puzzled by Ciel's reaction. When it became apparent that neither of them were going to speak further on the matter, she sighed and looked out the window. She hated not knowing what was going on.  
  
When they reached the the Royal Opera House, she brightened considerably, seeing all the glorious fashions of the ladies and gentlemen (but mostly the ladies, because so many gentlemen's tastes were utterly _boring_ ). Lizzie wanted to linger in the entryway, but Ciel was oddly determined to get to their box as quickly as possible.  
  
Pouting, she trailed after him, pausing here and there to give her compliments to various ladies with satin bows and painted fans. Sebastian was never far away, silently reminding Lizzie not to take too much time. It was just as well she didn't see anyone she knew, though she was already taking notes in her head for when she recounted the evening in rosy detail for some choice friends.  
  
Well, parts of the evening.  
  
Ciel was sitting with his arms crossed and his shoulders hunched in their box. Lizzie's heart sank. Was he annoyed with her?  
  
Sebastian leaned over to murmur something in Ciel's ear. Ciel's demeanor changed immediately, leading Lizzie to wonder if he had just been scolded.  
  
The overture began, and she reluctantly decided not to ask if he was feeling all right, instead turning to peer at the audience and their clothes.  
  
~*~  
  
Upon further consideration, Ciel should probably have brought Elizabeth to _Romeo et Juliette._  
  
Sebastian, at least, appeared to be enjoying himself immensely. Ciel had never realized that his butler found humans playing at being devils so entertaining. His applause was more than polite, and Ciel thought he even caught the man stifling laughter at one point. _Laughter_. It was almost worth the price of admission alone.  
  
But the moment Marguerite had appeared onstage, with her blonde curls and shining smile, Ciel's stomach turned over. He could take no joy in watching the corruption of a woman so similar in looks to his fiancée. He felt ill as he watched the innocent soprano play with the baubles from Méphistophélès.  
  
When the intermission came, Ciel didn't know what to say.  
  
Fortunately, Lizzie spoke first. "Well, I didn't understand everything, but I do want to know what happens next!"  
  
"I'm glad you're having a good time."  
  
She beamed. "I'm just so happy that you invited me! And that you wore the clothes I sent you-- I know it isn't your usual color, but it makes you look so cute!"  
  
Sebastian's influence, in both cases. "I rather think that it suits you better."  
  
Lizzie didn't hear him, distracted by someone in another box. "Oh, Ciel, look at the color of that dress! It's so pretty! I wonder what it's made of?"  
  
He made a noncommittal noise as she continued to point out various outfits and extoll their virtues. Privately, he hoped that no one was picking _him_ out of the crowd and commenting, but it wasn't much of a hope-- people went to the opera in order to see and be seen, after all.  
  
By the time the orchestra resumed, Ciel was quite bored, and glad for the distraction.  
  
He was considerably less grateful when the curtain rose on a despondent Marguerite. The sick feeling in his stomach returned.  
  
When Marguerite's brother died, cursing her with his last breath, Ciel saw a tear run down Lizzie's cheek. He leaned forward and slipped his fingers around hers. Without taking her eyes off the performance, she squeezed his hand.  
  
During the final act, Ciel heard another muffled noise from Sebastian that bore a suspicious resemblance to a snort, most likely directed at the opera's imagining of demonic revels. He had to admit he thought it was rather ridiculous too, but considering Lizzie's obvious distress, he was able to keep his amusement in check.  
  
The prison scene was another matter. Lizzie's shoulders shook as Marguerite begged the angels to save her, and Ciel knew she was doing her best to cry silently. He was relieved when the angels responded, but his fiancée's hand only tightened around his own, tears still falling onto her pink and white bodice as she sniffled softly.  
  
The moment the curtain fell, she dived at him, letting out a wordless sob. Sebastian was the only one in the box applauding politely, as Ciel held his weeping fiancée.  
  
"I'm sorry," she mumbled, once she had regained her composure. "I got your collar all wet."  
  
"Don't be ridiculous." It wasn't as if he cared about the clothes.  
  
When they reached the carriage, he was going to apologize for distressing her, but once again she spoke before he had the chance.  
  
"That was wonderful, Ciel!" She clasped her hands, her eyes shining fervently. "Please say we can go again sometime, please, please!"  
  
He blinked, surprised. "If your parents consent, I see no reason why not."  
  
She bounced in her seat, clapping wildly. "Oh, hooray! I still think it was stupid of Faust to sell his soul, though at least he got saved in the end. Though I don't know if he ever would have repented if it wasn't for poor Marguerite. Wasn't she pretty?"  
  
Lizzie chattered happily all the way back to the Midford estate, where they managed to drop her off without seeing the Marquis and Marchioness, much to Ciel's relief. He felt reasonably certain that Frances would not approve of his outfit in the slightest.  
  
"So, Sebastian," Ciel said, when they were on their way back home, "what did you think of the opera?"  
  
"A pleasant enough diversion," Sebastian replied mildly, "if overly sentimental."  
  
"The ending was slightly nauseating in its sheer optimism. But you must admit the singing was superb."  
  
"The soprano did live up to her reputation. Do you regret not sending her flowers?"  
  
Ciel snorted. "As if I'd bother with something like that. I've never seen Lizzie cry like that."  
  
"I imagine you may relive the experience if you take her to another opera."  
  
He sighed. "Perhaps next time, The Barber of Seville?"  
  
~*~  
  
Lizzie pressed her nose against the window watching the carriage shrink in the distance.  
  
"Elizabeth, remove your face from that window at once."  
  
Reluctantly, she obeyed her mother.  
  
"And don't sulk. It isn't becoming of a young lady."  
  
She wanted to whine that she missed Ciel already, that she'd seen him for two glorious days and now she didn't know when she'd see him again. Instead she forced a smile and sat down, toying with the frills on her dress.  
  
"So how is my adorable future son-in-law?" her father asked.  
  
"Oh, you should have seen him in the clothes I bought! We must have looked so cute!"  
  
Her mother's eyes narrowed. "Elizabeth, I hope you did not encourage him to wear something frivolous. He requires sensible, tasteful clothing."  
  
Lizzie made a face. "He can wear sensible, tasteful clothing any time he wants, but I like seeing him in something cute!"  
  
Ordinarily this would have resulted in an argument, but as it was quite late, Lizzie was simply ordered up to bed, where she went without complaint.

As Paula helped her out of her dress, Lizzie considered the evening. It had certainly been different from going to the theatre with her brother. The opera had been frightening and beautiful all at once, almost too much for her to bear.

And Ciel... he had taken her hand, and held her, just like he would have done when they were children. She remembered tripping over a branch and skinning her knee years ago, when they were playing, and how he had exclaimed "Don't cry!" and tried to use his shirt as a bandage before Tanaka had spotted them and discouraged it.  
  
She wondered if Ciel would really take any of the suggestions she had made at the warehouse yesterday. He had seemed particularly skeptical about the one-eyed rabbits.  
  
He didn't realize, she thought, that little girls loved playing at taking care of wounded things. Sometimes she worried that that was what she was doing-- chasing after a limping dog who was too proud to receive her attentions.  
  
But he had asked for her help this time, her opinion. That meant he trusted her, at least a little bit-- and that trust meant everything to her. She could even be patient, if it meant he began to open up to her again, to share things with her. 

Things that wouldn't always be nice, she knew. Things that might upset her, or frighten her, but that she would still treasure, deeply, because they would be _true_ and even if the truth was horrible, it had to be better than not knowing anything.

Besides, she'd be able to protect Ciel much better that way.

 


End file.
